Fatherlessness

Fighting the Fatherlessness Epidemic 

By Brigette Settles Scott, MA and Jody Vilschick


Closing the Gap, Men’s Health • September/October 2001


“I nvolvement of a responsible male—be it custodial or noncustodial, biological or not—can significantly affect the health outcomes of young children,” said Dwaine Simms, replication manager, Minnesota Early Learning Design (MELD) for Young 

Dads, in Minneapolis, MN. “Even before the child is born, a father 

can affect the health status of his child—from encouraging mom to 

eat properly and attending prenatal appointments to advocating for 

early preventative care after birth.” 

Yet, today, more than 22 million children live in homes away 

from their fathers—up from fewer than 8 million in 1960—according to the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that 

works to counter the growing 

problem of fatherlessness by stimulating a broad-based social movement to restore responsible fatherhood as a national priority. 

“There’s an epidemic of father absence in American society,” 

declares Edward E. Bartlett, 

Ph.D., senior policy advisor and 

founder of Men’s Health America. “In some communities, a large 

number—even a majority—of children are growing up without meaningful contact with their father.” This lack of contact can significantly 

impact the overall health status of children. 

“Tonight nearly four out of ten children in America will go to 

sleep in a home in which their father does not live. While at times, it is 

easy to throw around statistics such as these to make a point, the plain 

truth of the matter is that for every frightening statistic, there is a frail 

human life attached to it,” says Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., former president of NFI, and currently the assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families. 

Children who grow up in single-parent households, are also at 

great risk of not having health care coverage. According to the June 

2000, Medical Child Support Working Group Report, children living in one parent households (largely fatherless) have substantially less 

access to health care services, including preventive care that ensures 

childhood immunizations, vision and hearing screening, and dental 

care. Health care services are also far more likely to be delayed due to 

cost. 

The MELD for Young Dads program is one local effort to address the unique needs of young fathers. The program reaches out to 

both custodial and non-custodial fathers, typically between 15 and 

25 years old, and aims to prevent paternal neglect by helping young 

fathers handle the societal and interpersonal problems that can be 

barriers to involvement with their children. 

“A major component of our curriculum is to bring information to 

fathers which will allow them to make informed decisions about how to support the health care of their children,” added Simms. 

“Even before the child is born, a father can 

affect the health status of his child...” 

Office of Minority Health Resource Center	 1 

Research shows that children benefit from positive relationships 

not only with their mothers, but also with their fathers: 

3⁄4 Father involvement is important even for very young children. 

Good fathering during infancy and early childhood contributes 

to the development of emotional security, curiosity, and math 

and verbal skills. 

3⁄4 Higher levels of involvement by fathers in activities with their 

children, such as eating meals together, going to the park or other 

outings, and helping with homework, are associated with fewer 

behavior problems, higher levels of sociability, and a higher level 

of school performance among children and adolescents. 

3⁄4 Involvement by fathers in 

children’s schooling, such as volunteering at school and attending 

school meetings, parent-teacher 

conferences and class events, is associated with higher grades, 

greater school enjoyment, and 

lower chances of suspension or expulsion from school. 

3⁄4 The father-child relationship affects daughters as well as sons. 

Girls who live with both their mother and father do better academically. In addition, they are less likely to engage in early sexual 

involvement and alcohol or drug use. 

3⁄4 Although negative peer influence is the major reason kids use 

drugs, research suggests that positive family influence is the main 

reason kids don’t use drugs. Both boys and girls have reduced risk 

of drug and alcohol use if their fathers are involved in their lives. 

Promoting Responsible Fatherhood 

Also responding to the critical problem of “fatherlessness” in the 

nation, The Institute for Responsible Fatherhood & Family Revitalization (IRFFR), headquartered in Washington, D.C., has created a 

program designed to bring young African American fathers back to 

their children and families. The program hinges on the theory that 

the life of the father has tremendous impact on the lives of both his 

children and their mother. The fathers receive intense, non-traditional, one-on-one support, group support, family outreach, fathering skills, health and nutrition information, medical and housing 

referrals, and education and career guidance. 

“Our goal is to create good, loving, compassionate, and secure 

fathers,” said Charles Ballard, founder and chief executive officer, 

IRFFR. The Institute’s approach is to teach fathers to be good models 

for his children. “Children learn from us first—not their friends. We, 

as husbands and fathers, have major responsibilities that 

we must carry out in order to have good healthy families. 

continue to page 2>>>> 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
Fighting the Fatherlessness Epidemic 

By Brigette Settles Scott, MA and Jody Vilschick


Closing the Gap, Men’s Health • September/October 2001


We teach our fathers that in order to create longevity among our Friendly Initiative serves about 130 men at any given time. “Our 

people we must do three things: 1) change our life style from at-risk to clients need services of varying levels of intensity—some just need a 

risk-free, 2) we must eat better and practice proper nutrition habits, job or help getting a GED. Others need counseling and mental health 

and 3) we must exercise. In turn, he becomes the model of good services, or substance abuse treatment.” 

health that is then passed on to his children,” added Ballard. McLearn especially appreciates how RFMIS allows him to focus 

The program hinges on seven primary approaches to creating on providing the services a father needs most. “In one case, the father 

responsible fathers: was caught up in a ‘he-said, she-said’ situation involving him, his 

child’s mother, his girlfriend, and her boyfriend,” says McLearn. “Now 

3⁄4 Enhance intrapersonal development— mental health; he has an excellent relationship with his child’s mother and he’s get­

3⁄4 Enhance health and wellness—be good models of good health ting married to his girlfriend—and his child’s mother is invited to the 

for the family; wedding. Another father, through counseling and anger manage­

3⁄4 Enhance family development—creating a healthier family model; ment courses, was able to establish a good relationship with his child’s 

3⁄4 Enhance educational development—e.g., completion of GED, mother, and as a result, ended up marrying her.” 

high school, college; The RFMIS makes it possible for programs to identify who they 

3⁄4 Enhance financial development—e.g., savings, investments; are serving, what needs they have, and what services are being deliv­

3⁄4 Enhance entrepreneurship—e.g., employment, enterprise; and ered. This allows programs to monitor their activities on an on-going 

3⁄4 Enhance community development—strive to become pillars in basis, and to make changes when they are not meeting clients needs. 

the community. Irene Luckey, director of programs for the Fatherhood Initiative of the 

University of South Carolina’s Institute on Families and Society, which 

To date, IRFFR has reached over 7,000 fathers nationwide since works closely with the Sisters of Charity Foundation in South Caro1982, and can claim over a 90 percent success rate in some cities. lina, is enthusiastic about RFMIS’ ability to help them track trends. 

“When we started we expected that finding jobs for the men would 

Government Support be the main issue,” she said. “We learned from the data that due to 

their educational level and other factors, they are working, but below 

While government cannot make good fathers, it can, and does, the minimum wage. We also saw that a lot of the men don’t have long 

support efforts to help men become the best fathers they can be. The work histories—they may stay at a job for two years or less. So we’ve 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is promoting had to focus on not just getting a job, but getting and keeping a 

responsible fatherhood by funding programs whose goal is to im­ sustainable job.” The 16 Sisters of Charity projects serve more than 

prove work opportunities for low-income fathers, increase child sup­ 500 men throughout South Carolina. 

port collections, enhance parenting skills, and support access and visi­ As good as RFMIS is now, there are some changes in the works, 

tation by non-custodial parents. One of HHS’ programs—Respon­ according to Mellgren. “A client outcomes section is being developed 

sible Fatherhood Management Information System (RFMIS)—is a that will contain a broad set of outcomes data relevant to the fathercomputer database program that supports the information-manage­ hood field, that projects can adapt to their own service model,” she 

ment efforts of programs serving fathers through its ready-made evalu­ says. 

ation tool. Specifically for community-based organizations serving All this is good news for fathers and their children everywhere. 

men and fathers, RFMIS is currently being used by 15 HHS father­ Having a father involved in children’s lives also adds non-quantifiable 

hood project sites across the country and in eight fatherhood projects emotional well-being and richness. “As fathers, we will have opportufunded by the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. nities to make either the blooper reel or the highlight film. Through 

According to Linda Mellgren, social science analyst, in the Office continuous, meaningful contact with our children, we will create 

of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RFMIS was lasting memories,” writes Jack Petrash, in the Spring 2001 issue of 

created because after a review of existing fatherhood programs, one of Fatherhood Today, an NFI publication. 

the primary areas identified as needing improvement was to have For more information on the fatherhood programs mentioned, go to 

better tools for assessing and tracking their client caseload. “The the Department of Health and Human Services Fatherhood Initiative 

RFMIS has allowed projects running on very tight budgets to have web site at http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/ 

access to a sophisticated management tool that can be adapted to meet For more information on the Guidebook to the Responsible Fathertheir program’s needs,” she says. hood Project Participant Management Information System (RFMIS), go 

“It’s helped us provide the services really needed to allow individuals to become more responsible fathers,” says Stan 

McLearn, director of the Father Friendly Initiative of 

the Boston Public Health Commission. The Father 

to http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/guidebook99/index.htm 

For more information on the MELD Program, go to 

http://www.meld.org

Office of Minority Health Resource Center 2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services